Daddy's Little Girl

by Larry D. Sweazy

The sun broke over the horizon, cutting through the dark morning like a streaking bullet. Cardinals and finches sang with enthusiasm, unafraid of the coming winter. In the distance, a fox burrowed into a hollow tree and settled in after a long night's hunt. The wind shifted, blowing out of the north, rustling leaves on the ground, startling the birds into a momentary silence.

It would not be long now, the hunter thought to himself. Not long at all. Soon, the waiting would be over.

He sat high in an old elm, settled with his back against bark that had been smoothed from his yearly trip. His feet hung down, and with the camouflage suit he wore, they looked like just another branch, waving slightly in the wind. His face was painted black, only his eyes reflected the warmth of the sunlight. He watched steadily for any movement in the clearing below.

A twig snapped and he stiffened, pulled the polished butt of the custom 7mm Ed Brown Damera rifle tightly to his hard check. He blinked slowly as he focused his sight through the scope, controlling his breathing, in and out, slowly. . . . . So it would only take one shot.

His prey walked directly into the center of the scope.

A lone hunter, dressed similar to him, the only difference a bright orange cap.

His finger touched the trigger. Soft, like he was touching an old lover for the first time in a year.

He whistled just before he pulled the trigger. He liked to look them in the eye, just before they fell.

***

The driveway was lined with cars, mostly Mercedes, Lincolns , and BMWs. The marble pillars that braced the towering entrance of the mansion were all aglow in sterile white light. Maroon and silver streamers were tastefully appointed in the freshly landscaped backyard. Candles floated in the pool. A string quartet played Mozart just off the patio, the music rising softly into the cool spring evening air.

The crowd mulled about happily, not letting the beaming bride and groom out of their sight. Dom Perignon bubbled out the top of a four-foot fountain like a wildcat drill had just come in. Everywhere, there was laughter and good tidings.

Almost everywhere.

“Daddy, honestly, you look like you're at a funeral,” the bride said. She swept her golden hair back and looked at her father as if she were still twelve, still seeking his approval.

“Just thinking about how much this shindig is costing me,” he said, a slow smile coming to his face. His skin was perfectly tanned from the hours spent on the golf course in Florida over the winter, and his hair glowed as if it were made out of pure silver.

“Please, I would think you would have other things to think about.”

“First and foremost Princess. As always. . .” His black eyes twinkled from the glow of the floating candles.

“I love you,” she said, a small tear forming. “Thanks for everything. It's just how I dreamed it would be.” Then she was off, smiling, laughing with the guests, always keeping a moonstruck eye on the handsome young man who was now her husband.

Jonathan Hargrove watched his daughter intently. She moved through the crowd like a ship on its maiden voyage, proud, happy, and invincible. He had taught her well. She mixed with his acquaintances, CEOs, bank presidents, and senators , like she had known them all of her life.

His stomach churned when his new son-in-law came into view. Although the bride and groom stood twenty feet apart, it was not hard to tell that they desperately wanted to be together. Their silent lovemaking made Jonathan nauseous and acutely aware of the emptiness at his side.

The boy, Richard Webster, wanted only one thing, and it wasn't something that Priscilla had. At least, not yet anyway. It would be a very long time before Richard would see much of his money. He would have to prove himself first.

With that thought, Jonathan Hargrove disappeared into the crowd. In search of a stiff drink and his lawyer.

***

“Will you Daddy?” she asked, standing before him like she had when she was ten, wanting a pony. He could barely afford a cat back then. “I just think it would be so good for you and Richard to spend some time together.”

He shifted, uncomfortable in the tall back leather chair, his eyes glazed, as he pretended to look over the contracts that littered his desk.

“It's just that Richard has been so restless lately, and I think some time away would do him good.”

Jonathon Hargrove's eyes perked up. Out catting around is probably closer to the

truth, he thought. “I always go alone. You know that.”

“I know, but just this once. . . . I'm worried, that's all. I want you two to be friends.”

She gave him that sad puppy look that he could not resist. If she was unhappy, then he was unhappy—and she knew all the right strings to pull. Guilt over the loss of her mother had given her the key to his heart.

“Sure, Princess,” he said as he stood. “Anything to make you happy.”

“Oh thank you, Daddy.” She threw herself around him, giving him a huge child-like hug.

“I can't wait to tell Richard.”

He watched her run from the room, and an unfamiliar uneasiness came over him. The thought of his yearly hunting trip being ruined did not settle well. Nor did the thought that his son-in-law might possibly be stepping out on his Princess.

He would have to do some checking before they left.

A slight smile fell across his face as he picked up the phone to call the P.I. he used to check out his competition. If I'm right, he thought, then Priscilla might have solved her problem before she ever knew there was one.

***

“Here wear this.” Jonathan said, handing Richard a bright orange hat. “You have to be careful around here, some guys are trigger happy. They hear one twig break and boom. You're a hunting accident.”

“I hear that happens occasionally. I can see why.” Richard said, taking the cap and putting it on. “These trees are pretty dense. Hard to tell a man from a deer in the right light.”

“It would be,” Jonathon agreed.

As they walked, he could feel the envelope rub in his back pocket. Richard and some blonde bimbo together. . .

A picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case, perhaps several million dollars. Jonathon could hardly bear the thought of Richard taking over the company if something happened to him. Priscilla could lose everything that was rightfully hers. It was just too hard to think of his daughter as poor.

It was hard enough to remember what it was like for himself before the company took off. Before he figured out how to make real money.

The P.I. had said Richard was pretty cavalier about the whole thing. Picked the girl up in broad daylight and checked into the Omni hotel for two hours. Did it three times in the same week, then had the audacity to pick up Priscilla from the country club and take her out to dinner as if nothing had ever happened.

“I really don't see the sport in sitting in a tree and waiting for some deer to pass by,” Richard said, matching his father-in-law's stride.

“There isn't really. I've often thought about tracking down my prey, but I guess I'm getting old. I like the thrill of a sure kill.”

“You sure have made a killing with your business, if you don't mind my saying so, sir.”

Jonathon winced at being called sir. There was nothing he hated more than a kiss-ass. “I started with nothing. But it's just hard work and patience, Richard. That's all there is to it. That and knowing your competition's habits.”

“Like where they feed?” Richard asked with a sly smile.

“Or where they hunt,” Jonathan answered back.

***

The sun had been up for an hour. There had been no conversation between the two of them since they had climbed the tree. Each man had a firm grip on their rifle, ready at a moment's notice to shoot.

The birds sang and squirrels scampered on the ground, nervously searching for walnuts.

Jonathon thought about the last year, how fast it had flown by. About the acquisition he'd made after one of his competitors met an unfortunate fate in an hunting accident, and about the loss he would have to face in the coming days as his daughter buried her husband.

It would be a hard thing to go through. But some times those things were necessary to get ahead in this world, he thought to himself, rubbing the bare ring finger on his left hand.

“There's some corn in my bag. Why don't you go down and put some in that clearing about a hundred yards out.”

“Isn't that illegal?” Richard asked.

“Not everything that is necessary in this world is within the law.”

Richard took a deep breath. “Okay.”

The bag rested at the bottom of the tree. Once Richard had a handful of corn and began to walk toward the clearing, Jonathon slid a bullet silently into the chamber of the 7mm Ed Brown.

This trip won't be a waste after all, Jonathan said to himself, as Richard came into the crosshairs. It's going to be a lot easier than I thought it would be.

A little more, further, just a little further, and I'll teach you a little about knowing other people's habits he thought, rubbing the envelope in his back pocket.

His finger touched the trigger. He whistled.

Richard turned just in time to hear the gunshot, and watch the old man fall out of the tree.

***

“We really should send my sister to Hawaii , don't you think?' Richard asked Priscilla as he pulled the envelope out of his dead father-in-law's back pocket. “I mean, after all, she did have to kiss me.”

“What a disgusting thought,” Priscilla said, as she stepped over her dead father's body and gave Richard a long passionate kiss.

“Where'd you learn to shoot like that?” he asked as they walked away and into the morning sun.

“Why, Daddy, of course. He taught me everything I know.”